Kenton Cool on the summit of Everest

Record-breaking British mountaineer Kenton Cool has announced his next big challenge: the Himalayan Trilogy.

The Gloucestershire based climber, who has summited Everest more than any other UK mountaineer, will attempt the world’s three highest summits in three months.

Cool, who last year completed a new Himalayan ‘Three Peaks’ in a continuous expedition, will again try to set a record.

His successive climbs of Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse in one trip last year had never previously been achieved.

Now, the 41-year-old will tackle Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga, the three highest mountains on the globe.

He has dubbed the challenge the Himalayan Trilogy.

Cool said: “After successfully becoming the first to complete the Everest Triple Crown – Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in one continuous climb – I began to wonder what more I was capable of.

“Some people said that I had really pushed the boundaries of human endurance, yet although I found it hard, I thought I could go a step further with the Himalayan Trilogy, which will be one of the ultimate expressions of high altitude mountaineering.”

He aims to climb 8,848m (29,029ft) Everest for the 12th time in May, before moving on to Kanchenjunga, the third highest at 8,586m (28,169ft), which he described as one of the most beautiful massifs found in the Himalaya.

He will attempt to climb the mountain ‘on sight’, without any prior reconnaissance. He will use the camps sited by the expedition he joins, ascending via the south side.

After a successful ascent of Kanchenjunga, he will move west to Pakistan, to climb K2, at 8,611m (28,251ft), the most technically difficult of the three. He will use the Abruzzi Spur route, which is the original first ascent line from the 1954 Italian expedition.

Kenton Cool married his wife Jazz in 2008 and has two children, Saffron and Willoughby.